Footwear with mechanical foot-insertion assist

ABSTRACT

An article of footwear and methods include an insole, an upper configured to form a space between the upper and the insole configured to admit and secure a foot of a wearer, and a rotatable conveyor element. The rotatable conveyor element is seated in at least one of the insole and the upper. The rotatable conveyor element is configured to rotatably engage a body part of the wearer as the foot enters the space and draw the foot into the space.

PRIORITY

This application is a continuation application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 16/907,507, filed Jun. 22, 2020, which applicationis a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/795,397, filedOct. 27, 2017, which application claims the benefit of priority to U.S.Provisional Application No. 62/413,600, “FOOTWEAR WITHFOOT-ENTRY-CONVEYOR ASSIST”, filed Oct. 27, 2016, the contents of allwhich are incorporated by reference herein in their entireties.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The subject matter disclosed herein generally relates to an footwearwith a mechanism for foot-insertion assistance.

BACKGROUND

Articles of footwear that enclose a foot, such as shoes, boots, andclose-toed sandals, conventionally utilize a sole and a textile and/orleather “upper” to define a space into which the foot may be insertedand secured. A collar and throat of the upper provides a point of entryto the space. A wearer positions the footwear such that the foot canpass through the collar and throat and applies enough relative forcebetween the foot and the footwear that the foot overcomes the frictionwith the footwear that the foot passes through the collar and into andsubstantially into the space.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Some embodiments are illustrated by way of example and not limitation inthe figures of the accompanying drawings.

FIGS. 1A and 1B are a cutaway depiction of footwear and a block circuitdiagram of electronic components of the footwear, in an exampleembodiment.

FIGS. 2A and 2B are side and top-down views of the insole conveyor beltwith respect to the insole, in an example embodiment.

FIGS. 3A-3C illustrate the insole conveyor belt being utilized to draw afoot into the space within the footwear, in an example embodiment.

FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate side and top cutaway views of footwearincluding a collar mechanism configured to draw a foot the footwear, inan example embodiment.

FIGS. 5A and 5B are images of footwear including an upper having anintegrated sock section, in an example embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Example methods and systems are directed to an footwear with a mechanismfor foot-insertion assistance. Examples merely typify possiblevariations. Unless explicitly stated otherwise, components and functionsare optional and may be combined or subdivided, and operations may varyin sequence or be combined or subdivided. In the following description,for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth toprovide a thorough understanding of example embodiments. It will beevident to one skilled in the art, however, that the present subjectmatter may be practiced without these specific details.

In general, overcoming the friction between the foot and footwear(herein after simply “footwear”) may conventionally involve techniquesincluding gripping the footwear with the hands and one or both ofpulling the footwear over the shoe and pushing the foot into thefootwear. Additionally, the footwear may be secured against a wall,floor, or other apparatus and the foot pushed into the footwear.Devices, such as shoehorns and the like, have been developed fortemporary insertion into the footwear to reduce the friction needed toovercome to insert the foot. However, in such cases, the footwear itselfmay tend to passively oppose the insertion of the foot.

Footwear has been developed that includes one or more integratedrotatable conveyor elements to assist the insertion of the foot into thefootwear and/or to actively draw the foot into the footwear. In variousexamples, a the rotatable conveyor elements are one or more of aconveyor belt integrated into the sole and/or the upper functions todraw the foot into the space. The conveyor belt may be unpowered andpassively reduce the friction between the footwear and the foot or maybe powered to actively draw the foot into the space. In furtherexamples, the rotatable conveyor element may be an integrated collarmechanism in the collar and/or throat of the footwear further configuredto engage with the foot, ankle, and/or leg to assist or draw the footinto the footwear and, in certain examples, secure the footwear aroundand to the ankle and/or leg.

FIGS. 1A and 1B are a cutaway depiction of footwear 100 and a blockcircuit diagram 102 of electronic components of the footwear 100, in anexample embodiment. The footwear 100 includes an outsole 104 designed tocome into contact with a surface, such as the ground or a floor, aninsole 106 configured to seat a human foot, an upper section (“upper”)108 configured to enclose the human foot, and a tongue 110 configured tofacilitate securing the footwear 100 to the human foot via laces 112. Acollar 114 of the upper 108 defines a throat section 116 into andthrough which a foot is inserted to gain access to a space 118 in whichthe foot is seated. It is to be recognized that this is a simplifieddepiction of conventional footwear 100 and that the footwear 100 mayincorporate any of a variety of components or features. Further, thefootwear 100 may not incorporate all of these features or may includethese features in other formats (e.g., a sandal may incorporate theoutsole 104 and a reconfigured upper section 106 and no insole 106,tongue 110, and laces 112). It is contemplated that the principlesdisclosed herein will be applicable and adaptable to any of a range offootwear 100.

The footwear 100 further includes an insole conveyor belt 120 integratedinto the insole 106. The footwear 100 further optionally includes anupper conveyor belt 122 integrated into the upper 108. Alternatively,the footwear 100 does not include the insole conveyor belt 120 but doesinclude the upper conveyor belt 122. While the insole conveyor belt 120and upper conveyor belts 122 are described as conveyor belts inparticular, it is to be understood that any suitable mechanism forlongitudinally conveying the foot along the insole 106. As such,mechanisms such as a clamp that runs along a track integrated into theinsole 106 or other related mechanisms may also be utilized instead ofin addition to the conveyor belt 120 or may be applied in addition to orinstead of the conveyor belt 122.

In an example, the insole conveyor belt 120 is coupled to a motor 124which is coupled to a power source 126, such as a battery, capacitor,supercapacitor, or other suitable energy storage device. The powersource 126 may be replaceable and/or rechargeable. In examples where thepower source 126 is rechargeable, the power source 126 may include ormay be coupled to a kinetic energy generator, such as a piezoelectricgenerator or other suitable power generation mechanism. A controller 128is coupled to the motor 124 and power source 126 and is configured tocause the motor 124 to deliver power to one or more components of theinsole conveyor belt 120 to cause the insole conveyor belt 120 to turnto draw the foot into the footwear 100. It is noted that the motor 124may include one or more individual motors coupled tot eh power source126 and controller 128 to deliver motive power to discrete components ofthe insole conveyor belt 120.

In various examples, the controller 128 is coupled to an activationmechanism 130, such as a switch or mechanism to detect the presence ofthe foot or other body party of the user. The switch may be located sothat the foot triggers the switch when the foot enters the footwear 100or the switch may be accessible so that the wearer may intentionallytrigger the switch. The switch may be any of a variety of mechanisms,including but not limited to a pressure sensor, a magnet may bepositioned in relation to a magnetometer such that the entry of the footinto the footwear 100 causes a sensed magnetic field by the magnetometerto change, a sensor may sense a change in capacitance that may beinduced by the presence of the foot, and so forth. Additionally oralternatively, the activation mechanism 130 may be or may include anaccelerometer, a gyroscope, or other sensor configured to detect achange in the physical orientation or movement of the footwear 100.

Upon the activation mechanism 130 being triggered, the controller 128may cause the motor 124 to drive the insole conveyor belt 120 to drawthe foot into the space 118. A further triggering of the activationmechanism 130 may cause the controller to induce the motor to drive inthe opposite direction to help move the foot out of the space 118. Invarious examples, the activation mechanism 130 may utilize the switch todraw the foot into the space 118 and may utilize the sensor to detect achange in orientation or movement of the footwear, e.g., by implementinga predetermined movement with the footwear 100, such as clicking theheels, to push the foot out of the space 118.

FIGS. 2A and 2B are side and top-down views of the insole conveyor belt120 with respect to the insole 106, in an example embodiment. The insoleconveyor belt 120 includes a belt 200 secured between at least twowheels 202, 204. In various examples, one or both of the wheels 202, 204are coupled to and driven by the motor 124. In various examples, thebelt 200 may have a relatively sticky or abrasive external surface 206to promote contact with the toes and/or bottom surface the foot or asock worn by the foot. In various examples, the belt 200 may have arelatively smooth inner surface 208 to promote low friction incircumstances where the inner surface 208 comes into contact with itselfbetween the wheels 202, 204 owing to slack in the belt 200 or forceimparted by the foot. In examples where the inner surface 208 is smooth,one or both of the wheels 202, 204 may include teeth, nubs, or othermechanisms to promote engagement with the inner surface 208 even whenthe inner surface 208 promotes relatively low friction. In variousexamples, the belt 200 is made from latex, another suitable polymer, orany suitable material.

In the illustrated example, the insole conveyor belt 120 extends fromapproximately the middle 210 of the heel region 212 to an area 214consistent with the ball of the foot, though different lengths of theinsole conveyor belt 120 are contemplated. As such, the insole conveyorbelt 210 may tend to maintain contact with at least a portion of thefoot that tends to have relatively high pressure on the insole 106during a normal insertion of the foot into the footwear 100. The belt200 has a width 216 approximately one third that of a maximum width 218of the insole 106, though alternative width ratios are contemplated.

The principles described with respect to the insole conveyor belt 120apply as well to the upper conveyor belt 122. Rather than beingconfigured to engage with the toes or bottom of the foot, though, theupper conveyor belt 122 may engage with an upper surface of the foot orsock. As noted herein, the wheels 202, 204 may in certain examples ofthe upper conveyor belt 122 not be connected to a motor 124 and insteadmay function to provide for reduced friction on the top of the footrather than providing motive force to actively draw the foot in to thespace 118.

FIGS. 3A-3C illustrate the insole conveyor belt 120 being utilized todraw a foot 300 into the space 118 within the footwear 100, in anexample embodiment. For simplicity, the upper conveyor belt 122 isomitted but it is to be understood that various examples may include theupper conveyor belt 122.

In FIG. 3A the foot 300 is inserted through the throat section 116 ofthe footwear 100 until the toes 302 are in contact with the insoleconveyor belt 120. At some point during the insertion of the foot 300through the throat section 116 and contact with the belt 200 theactivation mechanism 130 is triggered by pressure from or otherwise bythe presence of the foot 300 in the footwear 100. Alternatively, thewearer of the footwear 100 manually triggers a switch of the activationmechanism 130.

In FIG. 3B, the controller 128 causes the motor 124 to deliver power toone or both of the wheels 202, 204 which turn, causing the belt 200 toimpart force on the foot 300 to draw the foot into the space 118. Invarious examples, the footwear 100 may optionally incorporate additionalmechanisms to aid in the insertion and removal of the foot 300. In anexample, the insole 106 and/or the upper 108 are equipped with a leveror ramp 303 configured to deploy behind the wheel 204 and sloping upwardtoward the heel 308 of the footwear 100. In such an example, the ramp303 may be coupled to the motor 124 and other electronic components anddeployed at the same time the insole conveyor belt 120 begins to rotate.Alternatively, the ramp 303 may be spring loaded or otherwisemechanically deployed, e.g., by the foot 300 touching a mechanicalswitch coupled to a spring mechanism or other deployment mechanism. Theramp 303 may provide for relative ease of insertion or removal of thefoot by reducing the angles the foot 300 may tend to encounter duringinsertion and removal, e.g., by not running directly into the insole 106or heel of the footwear 100.

In various examples, the controller 128 provides an acceleration anddeceleration profile for the insole conveyor belt 120. While thecontroller 128 may control the movement on a binary on/off basis, incertain examples the starting and stopping of turning the wheels 202,204 may have a deliberate acceleration and deceleration profile tolessen a likelihood of sudden starts and stops which may providediscomfort to the wearer. Thus, in an example in which the motor 124turns the wheels 202, 204 for two seconds during insertion and/orremoval of the foot 300, the motor 124 may accelerate the wheels 202,204 for three-quarters of a second, hold a constant speed for one-halfof a second, and decelerate for three-quarters of a second, among any ofa variety of potential acceleration and deceleration profiles.

In FIG. 3C, the controller 128 causes the motor 124 to cease to deliverpower, causing the belt 200 to stop turning. In various examples, theactivation mechanism 130 includes a sensor in or near a toe box 304 ofthe footwear 100 to detect when the toes 302 generally occupy the toebox 304, meaning that the foot 300 is generally seated within the space118. Alternatively, the controller 128 may cause the motor 124 to ceaseto delivery power after a predetermined period of time sufficient todraw the foot 300 into the space 118 or the wearer may perform apredetermined action, such as one of those disclosed herein, to causethe controller 128 to cease operation of the motor 124.

Upon completion of insertion of the foot 100, the controller 128 maycause the motor 124 and/or the wheels 202, 204 to lock to prevent freemovement of the belt 200. In such an example, the motor 124 may beconfigured to actively resist movement of the wheels 202, 204 if forceis exerted on the wheels 202, 204 by way of the belt 200 during normalwear. Additionally or alternatively, a physical brake may be deployed onthe wheels 202, 204 to passively prevent turning of the wheels 202, 204unless deliberately caused by the motor 124. Any of a variety ofadditional brakes or mechanisms for preventing unintentional turning ofthe insole conveyor belt 120 are contemplated.

The sequence described herein with respect to drawing the foot 300 intothe footwear 100 may be repeated in reverse to push the foot 300 out ofthe footwear 100. It is noted that a heel 306 of the foot 300 mayadvantageously be slipped form a heel region 308 of the footwear 100prior to engaging the motor 124. Additionally or alternatively, aconveyor belt or other mechanism disclosed herein may be positioned inthe heel region 308 or throat section 114 to promote the removal of thefoot 300 from the footwear 100.

FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate side and top cutaway views, respectively, offootwear 400 including a collar mechanism 402 configured to draw a foot300 into the footwear 400, in an example embodiment. The footwear 400includes some or all of the components of the footwear 100, including,in examples in which the collar mechanism 402 is an active collarmechanism, the motor 124, the power source 126, the controller 128, andthe activation mechanism. Examples in which the collar mechanism 402 ispassive may omit some or all of the motor 124, the power source 126, thecontroller 128, and the activation mechanism.

The collar mechanism 402 includes multiple wheels 404, 406, 408, 410.Various examples may include more or fewer wheels than the fourillustrated. In the illustrated example, the wheels 404, 406, 408, 410are rotatably coupled to the inside of tubing 412 of the collarmechanism 402. In various examples, the tubing 412 is flexible and ismade from a polymer, a medical-grade plastic, or any other suitablematerial. In various examples, the tubing 412 is comprised of a singlelength of tubing circumferentially joined together, or is comprised ofmultiple discrete segments each coupled to at least one but not all ofthe wheels 404, 406, 408, 410. In various examples, the tubing 412 is oris coated on an exterior surface 414 with latex or other materialsuitable to promote a friction engagement with a foot, leg, sock, orother apparel worn by a wearer of the footwear 400.

In an alternative example, the tubing 412 is omitted and the wheels 404,406, 408, 410 are positioned to come into contact with a foot, leg,sock, or other apparel worn by a wearer of the footwear 400. In such anexample, the wheels 404, 406, 408, 410 may be coated with latex or othersuitable material or my otherwise be configured to promote engagementwith the wearer. As such, the wheels 404, 406, 408, 410 may be coated inor made from latex, another suitable material, or may be roughened orotherwise configured to promote engagement with the wearer. Theprinciples described with respect to the tubing 412 may, as such, alsoapply to any examples in which the tubing 412 is omitted in favor ofdirect contact with the wheels 404, 406, 408, 410.

As the wearer inserts a foot 300 into the throat section 416 the foot300 and/or associated sock or apparel may come into contact with thetubing 412. In examples where the collar mechanism 402 is passive, theforce imparted by the wearer on the tubing 412 may cause the tubing 412to rotate with the wheels 404, 406, 408, 410, providing forcomparatively less friction than would be the case if the foot 300 wasrubbing against only the upper 418. Where the collar mechanism 402 isactive, the activation mechanism 130 may output a signal as describedherein, based on which the controller causes the motor 124 to drive thewheels so as to draw the foot 300 into the space 420. In contrast to theinsole conveyor belt 120 of footwear 100, the collar mechanism 402 mayengage with first the foot 300 and then one or both of the ankle and/orleg of the wearer as the foot 300 is drawn further into the space 420.Similarly, when the wearer is ready to remove the footwear 400 thecontroller 124 may reverse the drive on the wheels 404, 406, 408, 410,again as disclosed herein with respect to the insole conveyor belt 120.

FIGS. 5A and 5B are images of footwear 500 including an upper 502 havingan integrated sock section 504, in an example embodiment. The footwear500 may be an adaptation of the footwear 400, in that the collarmechanism 402 may be included or otherwise adapted herein. Inparticular, the sock section 504 includes at least a semi-rigid interiorportion 506 configured to engage with a posterior side 508 of the wheels404, 408 (wheels 406, 410 may be present but are omitted from this imagefor clarity) relative to an anterior side 510 of the wheels which isconfigured to engage with the foot 300. An optional exterior portion 508may be relatively more flexible than the interior portion 506.Alternatively, the exterior portion 508 may be semi-rigid in addition toor instead of the interior portion 506. Portions 506, 508 may be definedas semi-rigid to the extent that they are configured to receive forcefrom the wheels 404, 408 and transfer the force to the sock section 504generally.

As the wheels 404, 408 turn as the foot 300 is inserted into thefootwear 500, the wheels 404, 408 impart a force on the interior portion506. In FIG. 5A the sock section 502 is in a coiled state in which theinterior and exterior portions 506, 508 are relatively low and coiled orbunched. The force from the wheels 404, 408 causes the portions 506, 508to uncoil or unbunch and rise relative to the wheels 404, 408, asillustrated in FIG. 5B. As such, in an illustrative example, in thecoiled state in FIG. 5A the sock section 502 may rise approximately toan ankle of a wearer while in the uncoiled state in FIG. 5B the socksection 502 may rise over the ankle and a portion of the way up the legof the wearer.

Because the wheels 404, 408 function as part of the collar mechanism 402generally, it is to be understood that the rising of the sock section502 occurs as the wearer inserts their foot 300 into the footwear 500.Thus, before the wearer inserts their foot 300 the sock section 502 iscoiled and low. As the foot 300 enters the footwear 500 and the wheels404, 408 turn, either actively or passively, the force imparted from thewheels 404, 408 to the interior portion 506 causes the sock section 502to rise and crawl up the foot 300, ankle, and/or leg during theinsertion process. Similarly, during the removal process, as the wheels404, 408 turn the opposite direction, the force on the interior portion506 causes the sock portion 502 to lower and coil or otherwise bunch.Thus, as the foot 300 withdraws from the footwear 500 the sock portion502 automatically lowers.

The footwear 500 may optionally include a zipper or other mechanism thatmay function to provide an additional opening in the collar and/orthroat of the footwear 500 to ease admitting the foot 300 into thefootwear 300. The zipper may be manual or may be coupled to the motor124 for automation either separately from or in conjunction with thecollar mechanism 402 and the raising and lowering of the sock section502. Thus, in an example, as the sock section 502 rises as the wearerputs the footwear 500 on, the zipper may similarly rise from a loweredposition to a raised position. As the sock section 502 lowers as theuser goes to remove the footwear 500, the zipper may similarly lower. Itis emphasized that while the zipper is discussed for purposes ofillustration, any suitable mechanism may be utilized accordingly.Moreover, multiple zippers and/or other mechanisms may be incorporatedto provide a desired look or wearing profile.

The principles disclosed herein with respect to individual footwear 100,400, 500 may be combined in individual footwear. Thus, footwear mayincorporate both the insole conveyor belt 120 and the collar mechanism402. The footwear 400, 500 may incorporate the ramp 303 while thefootwear 100, 400 may incorporate the zipper of footwear 500. The ramp303 may be mechanically deployed while the zipper may beelectromechanically operated by the motor 124. It is specificallycontemplated that any particular component of each of the footwear 100,400, 500 may be incorporated in various combinations as desired.

Throughout this specification, plural instances may implementcomponents, operations, or structures described as a single instance.Although individual operations of one or more methods are illustratedand described as separate operations, one or more of the individualoperations may be performed concurrently, and nothing requires that theoperations be performed in the order illustrated. Structures andfunctionality presented as separate components in example configurationsmay be implemented as a combined structure or component. Similarly,structures and functionality presented as a single component may beimplemented as separate components. These and other variations,modifications, additions, and improvements fall within the scope of thesubject matter herein.

The performance of certain of the operations may be distributed amongthe one or more processors, not only residing within a single machine,but deployed across a number of machines. In some example embodiments,the one or more processors or processor-implemented modules may belocated in a single geographic location (e.g., within a homeenvironment, an office environment, or a server farm). In other exampleembodiments, the one or more processors or processor-implemented modulesmay be distributed across a number of geographic locations.

Some portions of this specification are presented in terms of algorithmsor symbolic representations of operations on data stored as bits orbinary digital signals within a machine memory (e.g., a computermemory). These algorithms or symbolic representations are examples oftechniques used by those of ordinary skill in the data processing artsto convey the substance of their work to others skilled in the art. Asused herein, an “algorithm” is a self-consistent sequence of operationsor similar processing leading to a desired result. In this context,algorithms and operations involve physical manipulation of physicalquantities. Typically, but not necessarily, such quantities may take theform of electrical, magnetic, or optical signals capable of beingstored, accessed, transferred, combined, compared, or otherwisemanipulated by a machine. It is convenient at times, principally forreasons of common usage, to refer to such signals using words such as“data,” “content,” “bits,” “values,” “elements,” “symbols,”“characters,” “terms,” “numbers,” “numerals,” or the like. These words,however, are merely convenient labels and are to be associated withappropriate physical quantities.

Unless specifically stated otherwise, discussions herein using wordssuch as “processing,” “computing,” “calculating,” “determining,”“presenting,” “displaying,” or the like may refer to actions orprocesses of a machine (e.g., a computer) that manipulates or transformsdata represented as physical (e.g., electronic, magnetic, or optical)quantities within one or more memories (e.g., volatile memory,non-volatile memory, or any suitable combination thereof), registers, orother machine components that receive, store, transmit, or displayinformation. Furthermore, unless specifically stated otherwise, theterms “a” or “an” are herein used, as is common in patent documents, toinclude one or more than one instance. Finally, as used herein, theconjunction “or” refers to a non-exclusive “or,” unless specificallystated otherwise.

1. An article of footwear, comprising: an insole; an upper configured toform a space between the upper and the insole configured to admit andsecure a foot of a wearer; and a rotatable conveyor element, seated inthe upper; wherein the upper forms a sock section and wherein therotatable conveyor element is coupled to the sock section and configuredto cause the sock section to extend and retract as the rotatableconveyor element turns.
 2. The article of footwear of claim 1, whereinthe sock section includes a semi-rigid interior portion to engage withthe rotatable conveyor element.
 3. The article of footwear of claim 2,wherein the sock section further includes an exterior portion moreflexible than the semi-rigid interior portion.
 4. The article offootwear of claim 2, wherein the sock section is configured to rise overan ankle of the wearer when the sock section extends.
 5. The article offootwear of claim 1, wherein the upper forms a collar to admit the footof the wearer and wherein the rotatable conveyor element is a collarmechanism positioned in the collar, wherein the collar mechanismcomprises: a wheel; a flexible tube extending around at least a portionof the collar, wherein the wheel is secured within the tube; and acoating around the flexible tube configured to promote engagement withthe leg of the wearer, the coating comprised of at least one of: latexor a polymer; wherein the wheel is a first wheel and wherein the collarmechanism further comprises a second wheel secured within the tube. 6.The article of footwear of claim 5, wherein the collar mechanismcomprises four wheels secured within the tube.
 7. The article offootwear of claim 5, further comprising a motor, operatively coupled tothe collar mechanism, configured to turn the wheel when in operation. 8.The article of footwear of claim 7, further comprising a power source,operatively coupled to the motor, configured to power the motor.
 9. Thearticle of footwear of claim 8, wherein the power source is arechargeable power source.
 10. The article of footwear of claim 8,wherein the power source includes a piezoelectric generator.
 11. Amethod of making an article of footwear, comprising: obtaining aninsole; coupling an upper to the insole to form a space between theupper and the insole configured to admit and secure a foot of a wearer;and seating a rotatable conveyor element in the upper; wherein the upperforms a sock section and wherein the rotatable conveyor element iscoupled to the sock section and configured to cause the sock section toextend and retract as the rotatable conveyor element turns.
 12. Themethod of claim 11, wherein the sock section includes a semi-rigidinterior portion to engage with the wheel.
 13. The method of claim 12,wherein the sock section further includes an exterior portion moreflexible than the semi-rigid interior portion.
 14. The method of claim12, wherein the sock section is configured to rise over an ankle of thewearer when the sock section extends.
 15. The method of claim 11,wherein the upper forms a collar to admit the foot of the wearer andwherein the rotatable conveyor element is a collar mechanism positionedin the collar, wherein the collar mechanism comprises: a wheel; aflexible tube extending around at least a portion of the collar, whereinthe wheel is secured within the tube; and a coating around the flexibletube configured to promote engagement with the leg of the wearer, thecoating comprised of at least one of: latex or a polymer; wherein thewheel is a first wheel and wherein the collar mechanism furthercomprises a second wheel secured within the tube.
 16. The method ofclaim 15, wherein the collar mechanism comprises four wheels securedwithin the tube.
 17. The method of claim 15, further comprising a motor,operatively coupled to the collar mechanism, configured to turn thewheel when in operation.
 18. The method of claim 17, further comprisinga power source, operatively coupled to the motor, configured to powerthe motor.
 19. The method of claim 18, wherein the power source is arechargeable power source.
 20. The method of claim 18, wherein the powersource includes a piezoelectric generator.